FIN425 - Securities & Evaluations

Welcome to the University of Miami Libraries Research Guide for FIN 425.  There is a semester long project which requires one to obtain a variety of data on a specific company.  Additionally, company competitor data will be necessary.  By using extracted data from the company's financial statements, information on its competitors and industry, you will be able to create an analysis report as if you were a financial analyst.

This course relies heavily on the use of the Bloomberg Terminals located in the Miami Herbert Business School. The locations are as follows:

• Finance Department: 5th Floor of Jenkins
• Undergraduate Lab: 2nd Floor of Stubblefield
• Graduate Computer Lab: 4th Floor of Aresty

This guide will recommend various library research tools, in addition to the Bloomberg information, that will provide the data needed to develop your analysis. 

For this course, you will need to select a publicly traded company.

Public companies sell shares of the company (stocks) to the general public, and are required to submit financial information and annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Searching for data on a public company is easier that seeking data on a private or subsidiary company.

A general company overview will be needed for the course project.  Begin by searching for company news from any of these resources.
 

• Global Newsstream (ProQuest):  This database provides  current company press releases.  Data coverage is from 1980 to the present.
• Nexis Uni:  Obtain numerous news articles on both U.S. and international companies from major news sources.
• Wall Street Journal, Eastern Edition:  Search for company news from the Wall Street Journal dating from 1984 to the present.  
• Yahoo Finance and Google Finance: These sites not only offer information on stock prices and basic financials, but also contain links to current news.

The FIN 425 Valuation Project requires basic use of a Bloomberg Terminal. Here are a few helpful tips to navigate the terminals.

To find company financials, follow these steps:

1. Type your company's ticker symbol into the search bar
2. Press the Yellow "Equity" key on the keyboard
3. Type "FA"
4. Press the Green "Go/Enter" Button

To see information from analysts, as well as what Bloomberg has to offer regarding articles on your company, follow these steps:

1. Type in the ticker symbol for your company
2. Type "ANR"
3. Look at the first dropdown menu option to verify that it says: "Best Analyst Recommendations"
4. Select that option

You may need to find the rate on a US Treasury Bond to use as your risk free rate for certain models. Follow these steps to see information on Government Bonds:

1. Press the Yellow "Govt" (Government) button on the keyboard
2. Type "WB" (World Bond Markets) in the search bar
3. Press the Green "Go/Enter" Button
4. Look for the US (United States) information

To find information on Indicies:

1. Click the yellow "Index" button on the keyboard
2. Type "WEI" (World Equity Indicies) into the search bar
3. Press the Green "Go/Enter" Button

To find company financials, follow these steps:

1. Type your company's ticker symbol into the search bar
2. Press the Yellow "Equity" key on the keyboard
3. Type "FA"
4. Press the Green "Go/Enter" Button

These databases will provide important financial reports (such as 10-K and 10-Q), as well an overview of the company's financial status.
 

• Mergent Online:  This database provides financial reports that include the balance sheets, income statements, retained earnings, and cash flow data.  Additionally, this database provides the annual 10K report.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.
   
• Value Line Research Center:  By conducting a company search, this service will provide substantial company financial data.  It also includes company rankings within their respective industry, financial strength grade ratings, and analyst commentaries.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.

For FIN 425, a company's stock price history is required.  

NOTE:  Bloomberg is the best resource for obtaining stock price data, as it offers both historical and real-time stock quotes.  Other stock price resources typically have a 5 to 20 minute reporting  delay.
 

• Yahoo Finance: This website returns the most recent stock price (updating throughout the day) and includes helpful stock information such as opening and previous closing prices, market cap, the stock's beta, and company ratios.
   
• Google Finance: Google offers information on specific companies. In addition, it also includes a number of related articles to the company you are looking up, which may be useful for the "Relevant Headlines" portion of the project

 

For a number of valuations, several comparable companies are needed. This information can be collected from a variety of sources. The greater the number of comparable companies, the more accurate the valuation will be.
 

• Business Insights Global:  Obtain a publicly traded company profile, and view the "Companies with Similar Revenue" list. 
   
• ​Google Finance:  In addition to providing information on company financials and stock prices, Google Finance also includes a number of comparable companies.  Simply look below the graph of the company's historical stock prices, and a number of competitors should be included.
   
• Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage:  Search for a publicly traded company and compare it to others in the industry by selecting "Quick Comps" within the menu column.  This will provide company comparative financial data plus more.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.
  
   Note:  Additional company comparative data can be obtained by selecting the "Industry Survey" tab. Next, click on the drop-down menu and select a GICS industry category and press "Search".  Select the most recent industry report in PDF format.  Open the PDF report and go to the "Comparative Company Analysis" section to view the list of company competitors.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.

To see recommendations from analysts follow these steps:

1. Type in the ticker symbol for your company
2. Type "ANR"
3. Look at the first dropdown menu option to verify that it says: "Best Analyst Recommendations"
4. Select that option

While the majority of this project relies on your own personal valuation of your selected company, it can be useful to read other professionals' opinions and reports.

- Morningstar Investment Research Center: Conduct a company search by selecting "Screen for Stocks." Next, type the company name in the search box and select the company from the drop-down menu. Scroll down to the "Morningstar's Analysis" section. Select "Read Full Analysis" to read the report. Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.

- Business Insights Global: Search this service to obtain a SWOT analysis report. Be aware that a SWOT report is not available for all public companies. Enter a company name on the database's homepage and review the company profile. Select "SWOT Reports" to review several analyst reports.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.

- Value Line Research Center: To view the analyst's opinion, enter the company name on the homepage's search box. Once the company profile appears, scroll down the screen to the "Commentary" section. Select "Read More" in order to print or read the full commentary.  Watch a 1-minute demo video of this search.

If you are having difficulty extracting data on your company of choice, click here for assistance.